Tips for the parent writer

After four days of watching my two year old niece, I found what my fellow writers in the group described as being one of their blocks to writing. Watching a toddler leaves one exhausted. You rarely get any time to do writing, let alone the relaxed moments to piece together a story of fiction.

By the end of the day, I found absolutely no energy to sit in front of the computer to write. Not even during nap time. For me, however, this situation was temporary. For parents of little ones, their temporary lasts years.

So here’s a bit of advice for those too worn out from child-wrangling to type out your novel;

Use a voice recorder. You can work out a story while driving, naptime, or morning through breakfast. Sure, the recording might have a babbling baby in the background, but you’ll get the story out.

Once you find the block of time to write- you’ll have your voice recording to type much like dictation.

You’ll find that many cell phones now have voice recorders built right in. I use my MP3 player which includes this feature.

Notepads also work fine, although not so well for driving. You could write while waiting in a doctor’s office, or during snack time.

Don’t by shy to ask for help with babysitting, or even help with child rearing to get the time for yourself.

If you have any of your tips to share, please leave in a comment below.

My niece already can talk your ear off, and demands a lot of book reading. Many books she’ll have me read to her over and over and over. Such as life for those who ‘childmind’ <– love that word!
Lovely blog you have, by the way.